This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(a) on Patent Application No. 2007-085365 filed in Japan on Mar. 28, 2007, the entire content of which is herein incorporated by reference.
The present invention relates to an LED lighting apparatus suitable for table lighting, ambient lighting and the like.
A table lamp 101 as shown in FIG. 21 and an interior light 102 as shown in FIG. 22 are examples of lighting apparatuses that use LEDs (light emitting diodes) as the light source.
With this sort of lighting apparatus, glare is a problem when looking directly at that the LEDs, making it necessary to reduce glare. With the interior light 102 in FIG. 22, for example, you look straight at the light source of the interior light 102 when you look up, making it desirable to reduce glare. The LED light is therefore irradiated through a translucent white diffuser, for example, thereby reducing glare.
It is preferable not only to reduce the glare of LED light, but also to be able to adjust the irradiation direction and position of the light, for instance. In JP 2005-203135 A (hereinafter, patent document 1), for example, the irradiation direction of the LED light is appropriately set using a plurality of reflective mirrors.
However, even if the LED light is irradiated through a translucent white diffuser, enabling glare to be reduced, it is not possible to appropriately adjust the irradiation direction and position of the light.
Also, even if the use of a plurality of reflective mirrors as in patent document 1 enables the irradiation direction and position of the light to be adjusted, the configuration of the lighting apparatus become complex.
In view of this, the present invention, which was made in consideration of the foregoing conventional problems, has as its object to provide an LED lighting apparatus that enables glare to be reduced and the irradiation direction and position of the light to be set, while avoiding a complex configuration.